A LA CARTE

A LA CARTE; Home-Style, Yet Sophisticated Thai

By RICHARD JAY SCHOLEM

Published: March 12, 2000

THE Lemonleaf Grill, a new restaurant in Carle Place, features freshly made, home-style, yet sophisticated Thai cooking in unpretentious surroundings at eminently affordable prices. Its sometimes complex but never convoluted dishes offer a zesty, vibrant meshing of hot, salty, sweet and sour tastes, combining Chinese and Indian influences into a unique, distinctive cuisine.

This modest storefront at 227 Old Country Road (516-739-3666) in the Seaman's Shopping Center, with its bare tables, minimal decoration (an Oriental fan, a few coolie hats and a pagoda-style bar) and deferential waitresses, is serving some of the best Thai food on Long Island. At dinner, entree prices, with but two exceptions, range from $6.95 to $13.50 and average around $10. Yet portions are substantial and more important, the restaurant's largely central Thai cooking (with a few Indonesian and Malaysian possibilities thrown in) delivers a symphony of tastes.

Less than half of the menu choices are spicy. Most are mild and moderately hot. Even the sizzling selections, like the superb curries, provide at least as much flavor as they do incendiary kick. Gaeng panang ($10.50), a thick creamy crock of chicken or beef curry anchored in coconut milk and accented with chili peppers, basil and coriander, is an example of the Lemonleaf's herb-centered curries.

Tom yam goong ($3.50), or Thai spicy and sour soup, is yet another combination of the pungent and toothsome. Its peppery overlay is moderated by its lime juice and lemongrass and enriched by its shrimp and mushrooms. Six steamed vegetable dumplings ($5.95) and four huge circular steamed shrimp dumplings ($6.75) are obviously Chinese in origin, but boast a bit more zip, some of which comes from their lively basil-garlic and garlic-ginger dipping sauces. But the most notable dip was the chunky, earthy peanut sauce that escorted the four grilled chicken or beef skewers of sate ($5.95).

Also in the Chinese mold is nuer pahd am ($10.50), a whisper-soft sauteed sliced beef and mushroom marriage rounded out with a harmonious blend of scallions, ginger and black beans atop a bed of spinach. Moo yang ta krai ($10.50), four or five thin, grilled pork chops marinated in lemongrass, galanga (a pulpy saffron-like spice), garlic and lime juice was tasty but tough. A Bangkok favorite, gong phao, or three jumbo grilled king prawns the size of lobster tails, at $17.50 the most expensive main course, was meaty but a tad dry. The prawns do get a zesty chili punch from their very special sauce.

The steamed rice that appears with all dishes is very compatible with the food at Lemonleaf. Use it to sop up the rich sauces and moderate the explosive dishes.

Meals at Lemonleaf (it was called the Lemongrass Grill for the first two months of its existence) contain a great variety of intense flavors and diverse textures. Tamarind, black fungus, bell peppers, dry hot peppers, chili paste, mint leaves, oyster sauce and chili peppers are prominent ingredients in its preparations. Meat is often used as a seasoning rather than as the main event. Instead vegetables are the stars of its low-calorie, low-cholesterol cooking.

Forget desserts. There are none other than refreshing complimentary pineapple cubes. But remember to tote your own wine and beer to this bring-your-own spot thereby making Lemonleaf even more economical.

Openings

The Paradise Diner, at 126 Main Street in Sag Harbor (631-725-6080), will reopen in May as the Paradise Cafe, a 90-seat restaurant sharing its 100-year-old building with BookHampton's newest store. Hal Zwick, the owner of the BookHampton stores, has hired Stephen Putnam as the restaurant's executive chef. Mr. Putnam, who is the former chef/owner of Frog and the Peach in Canton, Conn. and spent time at the Park Avenue Cafe and the River Cafe in New York, specializes in new American cuisine.

Park 70 has replaced Candles Steak House at 70 Park Avenue in Bay Shore (631-969-1199). Edward Devine and Fred Burkle, who opened the Oakdale House, have given the restaurant a blue and white French country kitchen look with plenty of hanging copper utensils. Mr. Burkle, the chef, says that the restaurant features modern American cuisine at entree prices of $17.50 (pastas) to $28.50 (tenderloin of beef). Other typical dishes include chimichangas of crab meat and salmon Napoleon.

Jillian's, a dining and entertainment chain, will open its 32nd megaplex tomorrow in Farmingdale (631-249-0708). The 60,000-square-foot mall contains two restaurants, the Video Cafe and Bar with 17 giant-screen televisions and a menu of American favorites like chili, steak, burgers and sandwiches. It also includes the Hibachi Grill, a traditional Japanese steakhouse. Jillian's also has a 20,000-square-foot game room, a two-story shooting gallery, 10-pin bowling, a video disk jockey, a light show and a retro lounge.

Tierra Mar is moving and Todd Jacobs, its chef and owner, is creating a new menu. The Westhampton restaurant, at 62 Old Montauk Highway, will be in the Westhampton Bath and Tennis Club on Dune Road in Westhampton for the new season.

Chef's Corner

Nelson Rothstein, who was the executive chef at Chadwick's in Rockville Centre, has been hired as the kitchen manager at Legal Seafood, a Boston-based chain moving into Melville.

Potpourri

The Book Mark Cafe, One East Main Street in Oyster Bay (516-922-0036) is turning over its kitchen to amateur chefs for a charity benefit dinner on March 23. Brian Shore of Locust Valley and Ralph Beiber of Muttontown are cooking for Friends of the Arts and the Institute for Student Achievement. The guest chefs are preparing a special three-course $65 menu.

Bellagio, the restaurant at 234-19 41st Avenue in Douglaston, Queens (718-224-1300), now serves lunch as well as dinner at entre prices of $4.95 to $8.95.

Guy Reuge, the chef and owner of Mirabelle, at 404 North Country Road in St. James, has assembled some of his most popular recipes and published them in a soft-cover cookbook. It is enhanced by the drawings of Judith Collester, a Long Island artist, and can be ordered by calling (631) 584-5999.

Tuscany Restaurant, at 187 North Long Beach Road in Rockville Center (516-763-9313), under the new ownership of John Mancuso, the chef, is changing its menu. It will soon add to its Italian dishes, mixing them with traditional steakhouse cuisine.

Citarella, a premium seafood shop-butcher-charcuterie in New York City, is heading to the East End. Its owner, Joe Gurrera, announced that he is planning to open a branch in Water Mill. The new Citarella, expected to open in April, will occupy 7,000 square feet in the Water Mill Shops on Route 27. The store will feature two floors of retail space with a full selection of seafood, prime meats and specialty foods.